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REWARDED WITH LIGHT

“But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.” (Matthew 6:6)

Did you know that our heavenly Father desires to reward His children? He not only desires it, but the Word of God exhorts us as Christians to come to Him with that very expectation:

“But without faith (expectation) it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6)

Seeking God through prayer, fasting and meditation of the Word of God go hand-in-hand with the Father blessing us with His reward. And notice that the reward comes from the Father Himself.

This is not to presume that by seeking God we somehow earn God’s pleasure or reward; but, rather, it’s more of an instantaneous interaction with God through the power of the Holy Ghost in the heart of the believer. It’s a spiritual waltz of love, if you will, between two persons dancing in beautiful harmony to the music and with one another.

The books of Revelation and John provide some wonderful insight to this mutual dance:

“Behold, I stand at the door (of your heart), and knock (invite you to dance): if any man hear my voice (the music), and open the door (accept His invitation), I will come in to him (by the Holy Ghost), and will sup (dance) with him, and he with me.” (Revelation 3:20)

Of course, I’m using some poetic license in the above scripture, but the analogy is reminiscent of the Song of Solomon. The whole purpose of Christ coming in the flesh was to redeem mankind by way of the cross that they might have an intimate and loving relationship with the Father:

“… he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him … and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” (John 14:21, 23)

The Apostle John later reiterated this wonderful reality to the disciples:

“That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.” (1John 1:3)

What was it that the Apostles had “seen and heard” and were “declaring” unto the saints?

“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;” (1John 1:1)

What they had “seen and heard” was the eternal Word of life! And this eternal Word of life is referred to in the scriptures as “light”:

“This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” (1John 1:5)

Of course, Jesus understood this completely and referred to himself as such …

“… saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” (John 8:12)

So, in receiving Christ, one receives “light”. But this is not a onetime event. For the Christian, it’s meant to be a daily experience. And for this to truly be a daily experience, a believer must receive Christ on a daily basis. No, he doesn’t need to be born again over and over, but he does need to nourish that which has been “birthed” in him. He does this by partaking of the Word of life on a daily basis as found in the Word of God. As the scriptures declare:

“The entrance of thy words giveth light;” (Psalms 119:130)

What is this light?

Well, as the scriptures plainly tell us, GOD is LIGHT. So, when you receive the light of God’s Word, you’re actually receiving more of God Himself! That means His wisdom, understanding, strength, power, love, hope, anointing … the list is infinite!

So, when the Father rewards you, He is rewarding you with His “light”. Or, in other words, He rewards you with the very essence of HIMSELF!

What a reward!

We began this article quoting Matthew 6:6. By continuing on in the chapter, we discover the real purpose of the Lord’s exhortation:

“But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.” (Matthew 6:17-18)

So,

“Lay not up for yourselves treasures (rewards) upon earth, … but lay up for yourselves treasures (rewards) in heaven (in your heart), … for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21)

Then the Lord immediately goes on to describe what these treasures are and what it is that He wishes to be in our hearts:

“The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single (in seeking God), thy whole body shall be FULL of LIGHT.” (Matthew 6:22)

Or, in other words, our bodies will be “full” of the attributes and presence of God Himself!

This is of particular importance for the end-time Christian. It is actually what separates the wise virgins from the foolish:

“Then (in the end time shortly before the return of the Lord) shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:” (Matthew 25:1-3)

“But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.” (Matthew 25:4)

The “oil” in these verses speaks of the Holy Ghost abiding within each believer (vessel) which, in turn, provides the fuel for the “light” of the lamp. Though all are virgins (believers) and have a measure of oil (the Holy Ghost), the “unwise” virgins didn’t gather enough for the entire journey. In other words, instead of seeking God with all of their hearts on a daily basis, they frittered away their time upon the earth pursuing the material pleasures of this life. They didn’t bother to get their eyes “single”, as it were, upon the Lord when they had the time to do so. Therefore, their vessels (bodies) were not filled with enough oil (light) when it came time to meet the bridegroom in the dark!

That’s why Jesus so earnestly conveyed this idea in the following scripture:

“The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single (upon the Lord), thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil (upon the world), thy body also is full of darkness.” (Luke 11:34)

The unwise virgins are like those described in Luke 8:14:

“And that (seed of the Word of God) which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.”

These had the Word of God and a measure of light, but did not bring any fruit (light) of the Spirit to perfection! In other words, their “eyes” just never got “single” upon the Lord!

We are instructed of the Lord to be “wise” in our dealings with Him during this short time upon the earth which He has given us to “redeem”; because, the days in which we now live are “evil”.

Therefore:

“If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things (the rewards of God’s light) which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.” (Colossians 3:1-2)

“And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, (you) may open unto him immediately.” (Luke 12:36)

Up until that time, it’s never too late to repent and begin to follow hard after the Lord that we might be rewarded with His light, by which light we will be able to withstand in the evil day.

“But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.” (Deuteronomy 4:29)

“We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:” (2 Peter 1:19)

“See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools (foolish virgins), but as wise (virgins), redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is (by receiving the light of God’s Word into your heart which He has provided as a reward to those who diligently seek Him by faith).” (Ephesians 5:14-17)

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